Huntingdonshire District Council activated its “Silver Command” structure to cope with potential emergencies caused by flooding along the Ouse Valley.

Three families from the Old Hurst area had to be found temporary accommodation by the council after their homes flooded and the authority has been distributing sandbags to properties in areas at risk.

But Cllr Jason Ablewhite, district council leader, said he was yet to be convinced that major dredging on the Great Ouse was necessary to prevent flooding.

He defended the Environment Agency which has been under fire over its dredging policies on the Somerset Levels, even though there have been calls for more dredging on the river through Huntingdonshire.

Cllr Ablewhite said: “If you dredge a river right through it can help when there is normal rainfall but at the levels of water we have been seeing it would still go over the banks and dredging would not make a lot of difference.

“Whether dredging would make any difference, I am yet to be convinced. The key thing is managing the water as it flows through.”

He pointed to new flood defences at St Ives, Godmanchester and St Neots, and said the response of the Environment Agency had improved.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “Dredging can be part of the answer in certain situations, but out immediate priority is to protect people and property in our area.

“The policy on dredging is something which is being looked at at a national level.”

Cllr Ablewhite said that as a planning authority the council had made fundamental changes by insisting on water storage areas for big new developments.

He said he was proud of the way the authority responded to the flood risk, including setting up its Silver Command which includes providing refuge in public halls and buildings for people who have been flooded.

Up to 10 homes and businesses in Old Hurst were flooded by water pouring off nearby fields on Friday and firefighters pumped out two homes and a commercial property. Flooding also caused a series of road closures across the district as water levels in rivers and streams rose.

The district council delivered sandbags to 20 homes in Cunningham Way, St Neots, to The Grove in Old Hurst as well as 350 to Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service. They were also put out in Causeway Road, Broughton, and Henbrook, St Neots.

Flood plains along the Great Ouse between St Neots and Earith were under water and parts of Alconbury, which floods regularly, were six feet deep, although the water went down again as fast as it rose.

Flood warnings and alerts have been introduced and removed across the district and there are concerns that water levels may rise again if the wet weather continues.

Simon Jordan, vice-chairman of Brampton Parish Council said water seemed to be “going uphill” at Brampton Brook on Tuesday.

Godmanchester’s £6.8 million flood defence scheme, which will protect more than 550 homes, will be officially opened on February 28.